


the only solution

by Anonymous



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bedsharing, Cuddling, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Secret Relationship, Snuggling, adam birkholtz has a problem, i'm gonna go live in the oven bye, implied nsfw but it doesnt actually happen on-screen, literally there are 5 characters in this entire fic and 2 of them are only mentioned, pure fluff, shitty is only there to water the haus, shitty wears pants through this entire fic, water bottles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 11:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7615675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam Birkholtz has a problem. Well, he doesn’t necessarily think of it as a problem, but anyone who lives with him for more than a week or so will tell you that Adam Birkholtz undeniably has a problem. He owns 15 reusable water bottles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the only solution

Adam Birkholtz has a problem. Well, he doesn’t necessarily think of it as a problem, but anyone who lives with him for more than a week or so will tell you that Adam Birkholtz undeniably has a problem. 

If you open one of the cupboards in the Haus, you are likely to find any of the following things: baking supplies, hot sauce, protein powder, or numerous reusable water bottles. Now, these may sound like reasonable storage contents for the house of a team of pie and sriracha addicted college athletes, and one can easily assume that each resident of the Haus owns a few water bottles, which would make perfect sense. The only problem is, the majority of them belong to one Adam Birkholtz. 

\- - -

It started in his freshman year, with a trip to target. He came back to his dorm, three hours later, bearing five reusable water bottles. Granted they were on sale, two costing only ten dollars, but five would just be excessive. Over the course of a year, his collection grew steadily. I’m an athlete, he said to himself, I drink a lot of water, it only makes sense that I’d have a few, and this one has Darth Vader on it how cool is that? Over the summer of freshman year, moving from his cramped dorm into the Haus, he had a large packing box full of them.

\- - - 

It became a bit of a thing, Holster’s water bottles. His collection was admittedly convenient, if a player lost theirs or it was in the wash when they needed a drink, they could always borrow one of his. He has 16 total, scattered around the Haus and a few in the locker room at Faber even. There were more, but enough of them broke or “got lost” (Bitty will never admit that he donated some of them to charity, because clearly somebody else could be using them more than Holster is, but Bitty does not want to incur any of Holster’s sad face), and some of them really did get lost. Nursey borrows the bottles the most; he can never keep track of his own, but when he borrows Holster’s, he feels the sense of moral obligation to not lose it (because Derek Nurse thrives on the pride and affection of others). Ransom buys Holster a nalgene for his birthday, and Holster uses it more than any of the others.

\- - -

It's a hot afternoon in the fall when Shitty finds out about the sheer number of water bottles that Holster has, he is justifiably concerned. He sits in the kitchen until Ransom comes back from class, wearing pants, and confronts him.

“Rans, dude, you need to talk to Holster about his water bottles,” Shitty says, shaking Ransom’s shoulders. “They’re everywhere, brah, it’s gotta stop!”

“Okay Shits, I’ll talk to him, try and get him to get rid of a few of them, okay?”

“God fuckin’ bless, dude, you’re a lifesaver.” Shitty pulls him into a tight hug and claps him on the back, and Ransom goes up the stairs where Holster hopefully is.

\- - - 

Holster is laying on the bottom bunk when he gets to the attic, scrolling through something on his phone while a show plays on his laptop. Rans takes off his hoodie and tosses it on the floor, stretching and walking over to the bed. Holster shifts over, and Ransom lays down next to him, propped up on the pillows (he had moved his pillow down to the bottom bunk a few months ago, because he barely slept on the top one anymore anyway, so what good was it doing up there?) and one elbow. Holster passes him an earbud, both of them working together wordlessly. They get halfway through the show that Holster was watching before Ransom brings up the topic. 

“Holtzy? How come you have so many water bottles?” He asks, tracing designs on Holster’s bicep.

“Hmm? Yeah, I just like having them I guess. Like, I never have to worry about losing one and not being able to stay hydrated, because I’ve got a lot more, right? Besides, some of them are really cute, and like, insulated and stuff.”

“Dude, that is so you,” Ransom laughs, resting his head on Holster’s arm. “Have you ever thought about like, getting rid of all but a few, though? Like, picking your favorites?”

“Maybe, if you help me pick the ones to keep,”

“I like the green metal one with stripes, and the star wars one, and that blue one. That work?”

“Okay, how about the one you got me for my birthday? I use that one the most,” 

“Yeah, Chowder even made you a cozy for that one you like it so much, keep that one definitely.” Ransom says, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Babe, did you use my lotion? You smell great.”

“Ch’yeah, dude, my skin is like, so soft. There’s like, coco butter in that stuff or something, that shit is magic, I swear,” Holster replies, pressing a soft kiss to Ransom’s hair. “By the way, your arms look great in that shirt. Like, better than usual, babe.”

“Hmm, thanks,” Ransom says, propping himself up on his elbow again and leaning in to kiss Holster. “You don’t look too bad yourself, honey.” Holster chases his mouth and kisses him, deeper this time, pushing his laptop aside before pulling Ransom down. 

\- - -

Two hours later, Ransom finds Shitty in the front yard, hosing down the outer walls of the Haus in pajama pants and a crop top that says “foxy” on the front. He narrowly avoids spraying Ransom in the face before sprinting over to turn off the faucet. Ransom is standing on the front porch, shirt wrinkled and looking a bit sleepy and soft over all, and Shitty is fairly sure he can see some indistinct marks on his shoulder. 

“Holster’s getting rid of like, all of the water bottles, dude. Barely took any convincing at all.” Ransom calls from the porch, pointing at Shitty and beaming.

“Good fuckin’ job, dude! Congrats!” Shitty hollers, giving him a double thumbs up, and Ransom walks back inside, slightly perplexed by Shitty's enthusiastic response.

\- - -

September 27th goes down in Haus history as the day that Adam Birkholtz gave up a majority of his water bottle collection, and in the process told the entire SMH team about his and Ransom's accidentally secret relationship.

**Author's Note:**

> okay im so sorry this started as a warmup mini-fic based on a dumb hc from my blog but then this happened bye!!!  
> also i just really wanted to give everyone the image of shitty in a pastel pink "foxy" crop top and cute pajama pants hosing down the Haus, i kinda took that hc from my great grandma because she would hose down the house with cold water during the summer because apparently that cools it down, and i was thinking what if shitty's cooler grandma did that too and he kinda latched on to that habit during the hotter days  
> (tumblr @ranholts/@bvckybvrns)


End file.
